Harvest year for Chinese athletics

The year 2012 witnessed a major breakthrough for the Chinese athletics team, which claimed one gold and five bronze medals in the London Olympics Games, the most medals ever won by the team in one edition of summer Olympics Games.

The 20-year-old Chen Ding came from nowhere to took the men's 20km walk gold with a new Olympic record. It is the first Olympic gold won by a Chinese male walker and also the second Olympic gold won by a Chinese male track and field athlete following the country's hurdling star Liu Xiang;s 2994 victory.

"The year 2012 has been an amazing year for me as I not only realized my dream but also received the best ever birthday present in London," said Chen Ding at an awarding gala hosted by the Chinese Athletics Association earlier this month, where he was named the sole China's best track and field athlete of the year.

Chen won the Olympic gold with only one day to go before his 20th birthday, and although he could not celebrate his birthday with his family, the celebration for his gold medal lasted for months.

He is now hailed as "the second Liu Xiang" by the media and his supporters. The scene in which he gave high-fives to spectators and stretched up his finger to the sky as he sped up for the finishing line has already been a classic moment which can often been seen on TV.

"I do not think I will emerge as a superstar like Liu Xiang," said Chen. "Before I won the gold medal, I was just an ordinary athlete. And if I want to achieve more, I need to remain ordinary and keep a low profile."

Born in a poor family in the rural area of China's Yunnan Province, Chen knows the importance of staying low and keeping a cool mind.

Back in 2011 Chen was just a nobody trying to find chance to prove himself. He finished third in the qualifying event for the World Championships in Daegu, South Korea. However, the team leaders decided chose Wang Hao instead of Chen for Daegu as the more seasoned Wang missed the qualifier due to injuries but already proved his worth after he finished fourth at 2008 Beijing Olympics.

"I was really upset at that time. But I knew I should never give up. I should train harder and improve my time until I get the chance to walk for my country," said Chen, whose second place finish in the qualifying event in March earned him the ticket for London Games.

"I managed to prove my worth in the Olympic Games, but it's just a start. To be frank, I am more stressed now because I have to prove I am not a flash in the pan, and I need to fight for more honor in international competitions," Chen added.

Chen's gold winning feat in London was just an epitome of Chinese race walkers' eye-catching performance in 2012. The 21-year-old Wang Zhen, who finished third in the men's 20km in London, collected China's first men's world title in the 2012 IAAF World Race Walking Cup in Saransk, Russia this May. And Si Tianfeng grabbed a bronze in the men's 50km event.

Qieyang Shijie, the first Tibetan athlete that China has ever fielded in the Olympics, also won a bronze medal in the women's 20km event by setting a new Asian record.

"The bronze medal raised my confidence. I want to polish my technique and I believe I can renew my Asian record one day," said Qieyang, who now spends more time on Weibo, a Twitter-like social network in China, trying to promote her beloved sport.

"The London Olympics has made me known to more and more people and I have a lot more followers now," said the 22-year-old. "I like to share my training, my competitions and my life with my followers. Hopefully, more and more people can get to know and love the sport."

Apart from the walkers, China's female throwers also did quiet a good job in London. The 33-year-old Li Yanfeng, who claimed the world discus title in Daegu last year, picked up a bronze in London. And Li's bronze medal may turn silver soon as Russia's s Olympic silver medalist, Darya Pishchalnikova, is set to be stripped of her medal and banned for life following confirmation by the Russian anti-doping agency that she has tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug.

The 23-year-old shot putter Gong Lijiao, who initially finished fourth at London Olympic Games, recently received her deserved bronze medal after Belarus' Nadzeya Ostapchuk was stripped of the Olympic gold medal for testing positive for a banned anabolic steroid.

The honor achieved by Chinese track and field athletes was not just limited within the arena. Chinese legend distance runner Wang Junxia, who won the women's 5,000m gold medal in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, was among the first induction of the 24 members in the IAAF Hall of Fame on Nov. 24. The members also include legendary names such as Sergey Bubka, Sebastian Coe, Carl Lewis and Jesse Owens and she is the only Asian athlete among the 24 first inductees.

Although failing to bring new Olympic honor to China, the men's 110m hurdling star Liu Xiang shall never be forgotten. The Athens Olympic champion exited the London Games after smashing into the first obstacle of his 110m hurdles heat in London, four years after he was forced to withdraw due to a tendon injury from his heat at the 2008 Beijing Games.

Only this time Liu made things different. He hopped over the rest of the distance on his left foot to symbolically finish his race. He also stopped at the last hurdle and kissed it, earning a rousing ovation from the 80,000 crowd at the Olympic Stadium.

Liu, given the "Fighting Spirit Award" at the annual athletics awarding gala, has been considering a comeback next June.

"Liu Xiang's foot recovery is satisfying. If everything goes well, he can be back to training in June next year or even sooner," said his coach Sun Haiping.

The supporters of Liu Xiang can find hope in his positive recovery. Du Zhaocai, vice chairman of the Chinese Athletics Association, also found his hope as he believed the good performances of the country's track and field athletes have given him the confidence to expect a bright future.

"Our athletes made some progress and performed well in London Olympics. But we have already set our eyes on next year, which will be the start of a new Olympic cycle. We will keep working hard for better results in Rio in 2016," said an ambitious Du.